Kilmeny of the Orchard eBook

Janet Gordon had hitherto spoken no word. She
had sat rigidly upright on one of the old chairs under
Margaret Gordon’s insistent picture, with her
knotted, toil-worn hands grasping the carved arms
tightly, and her eyes fastened on Eric’s face.
At first their expression had been guarded and hostile,
but as the conversation proceeded they lost this gradually
and became almost kindly. Now, when her brother
appealed to her, she leaned forward and said eagerly,

“Do you know that there is a stain on Kilmeny’s
birth, Master?”

“I know that her mother was the innocent victim
of a very sad mistake, Miss Gordon. I admit
no real stain where there was no conscious wrong doing.
Though, for that matter, even if there were, it would
be no fault of Kilmeny’s and would make no difference
to me as far as she is concerned.”

A sudden change swept over Janet Gordon’s face,
quite marvelous in the transformation it wrought.
Her grim mouth softened and a flood of repressed
tenderness glorified her cold gray eyes.

“Well, then.” she said almost triumphantly,
“since neither that nor her dumbness seems to
be any drawback in your eyes I don’t see why
you should not have the chance you want. Perhaps
your world will say she is not good enough for you,
but she is—­she is”—­this
half defiantly. “She is a sweet and innocent
and true-hearted lassie. She is bright and clever
and she is not ill looking. Thomas, I say let
the young man have his will.”

Thomas Gordon stood up, as if he considered the responsibility
off his shoulders and the interview at an end.

“Very well, Janet, woman, since you think it
is wise. And may God deal with him as he deals
with her. Good evening, Master. I’ll
see you again, and you are free to come and go as suits
you. But I must go to my work now. I left
my horses standing in the field.”

“I will go up and send Kilmeny down,”
said Janet quietly.

She lighted the lamp on the table and left the room.
A few minutes later Kilmeny came down. Eric
rose and went to meet her eagerly, but she only put
out her right hand with a pretty dignity and, while
she looked into his face, she did not look into his
eyes.

“You see I was right after all, Kilmeny,”
he said, smiling. “Your uncle and aunt
haven’t driven me away. On the contrary
they have been very kind to me, and they say I may
see you whenever and wherever I like.”

She smiled, and went over to the table to write on
her slate.

“But they were very angry last night, and said
dreadful things to me. I felt very frightened
and unhappy. They seemed to think I had done
something terribly wrong. Uncle Thomas said he
would never trust me out of his sight again.
I could hardly believe it when Aunt Janet came up
and told me you were here and that I might come down.
She looked at me very strangely as she spoke, but
I could see that all the anger had gone out of her
face. She seemed pleased and yet sad.
But I am glad they have forgiven us.”